So; had a question that popped into my mind the other day I felt like asking to see what others thought on the subject.

How would you feel if the video game industry started 'rebooting' old RPGs rather than merely 'remaking' them?

I'm not quite sure what to think on that personally. You have like ye-olden bare bones RPGs from the early days that could sorely use a reboot, rather than a fresh coat of paint, in order to work out kinks in the character personalities, update the battle systems to newer/fresher conventions, expand the story beyond "This guy is bad, go kill him or the world will end.", ect. But then you run into those weird areas where rebooting would 'improve' the over all quality of the narrative would definitely draw fire from the original fanbase (I.E: Imagine FFV rebooted as a 'nitty gritty' story for a moment. XD Scary huh?)

Not really a suggestion for where the industry should go mind you. Just with the film industry rebooting everything left and right and the gaming industry making HD/3D remakes all the new rage...it makes you wonder what would happen if the horses swapped streams.

I can't say that I remember seeing an RPG franchise being rebooted. But a reboot makes me fear that they will take a renowned RPG franchise and will change it into something completely different from what it was before making every fan of the classics titles annoyed, confused and/or angry in the process.

Sounds like you are really talking "update" to "remake", not reboot. Reboot is taking an old IP and creating a totally new game that clears the original timeline. What you're talking about is an old game that's fleshed out and changed enough that it becomes something substantially different from the original.

The one thing I will say in defense of remakes is that more often then not, they're really quite good. Metroid Zero Mission is my favorite example. It's really a new game from the ground up, built off an old game that hasn't aged well. I think you can do a lot with a remake, especially to a game from the era of, "no plot, no characters, no non-gameplay elements, just go save the world"."

I can't say that I remember seeing an RPG franchise being rebooted. But a reboot makes me fear that they will take a renowned RPG franchise and will change it into something completely different from what it was before making every fan of the classics titles annoyed, confused and/or angry in the process.

Sounds like you are really talking "update" to "remake", not reboot. Reboot is taking an old IP and creating a totally new game that clears the original timeline. What you're talking about is an old game that's fleshed out and changed enough that it becomes something substantially different from the original.

I think he's taking the angle of stuff like the new Battlestar Galactica: take the original concept, maybe some of the original characters and whatnot, then do them over again as if it were a new production. For video games Silent Hill: Shattered Memories provides a good example.

I think it'd be interesting to see reboots of older RPGs, assuming they can do them justify. Something like Phantasy Star could be interesting at least.

The one RPG remake that I think was unarguably a good idea was Final Fantasy III. Say what you will about the game itself, the remake ensured that it would make its way over here. Granted, they could have updated it a little more, you know, like a save point in the two hour final dungeon, but Final Fantasy III was otherwise totally unavailable in North America and probably very difficult to find legally in Japan.

I also agree that it depends on the series; Suikoden hasn't ridden the reboot train well.

Gameplay wise. Why the fuck is everyone here so story-oriented?! Anyways, how is it *not* a reboot?

Breath of Fire V was easily a big departure anyways. You attacked your enemies for the headsup, walked the battlefield, traveled "up" the world instead of across it, couldn't fish, you mined with ants[?], Ryu spoke, Nina didn't and technically didn't have wings... basically it combined capcom's survival-horrors with RPG -- I mean, your fucking saves were limited.

I can't remember if they said V *does* take place in the same timeline or world... but, I mean, it doesn't really matter since there was no real proof in-game. Basically, all it had the same was Dragons and Gooeys, and a blonde and a blue-nette.... and a term like "zenny".